By admin<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

Carolyn Raihala<\/p>\n

HIS 245<\/p>\n

Primary Source Analysis<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Abigail Adams: Lobbyist and Political Advisor<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Abigail and John Adams carried out an extensive written correspondence from their pre-marriage days of courtship in 1762 up through John’s presidency from 1796 to 1801. In their letters, they write not only of their mutual affection and the day-to-day undertakings of their lives, but of politics and philosophy, exchanging ideas as intellectual equals. In this letter, known as the \u201cremember the ladies letter\u201d for her farsighted lobbying on behalf of women, Abigail Adams leaves the contemporary gender role for women far behind as she critiques her husband’s co-revolutionaries and demands that John include protections for women in the Constitution.<\/p>\n

When I first read this letter, I was curious to know about Dunmore and the situation to which Abigail refers when she criticizes the colony for having been \u201cshamefully duped by a Dunmore.\u201d The man in question refers to John Murray, the Fourth Earl of Dunmore and the Royal Governor of Virginia. He is infamous (if seen from Adams’s perspective) for issuing a proclamation on November 14, 1775 in which he offered freedom to slaves who would leave their patriot masters and join the loyalist forces.<\/p>\n

Consequently, colonists previously focused on waging war against the British put their energies into protecting their families and property against this growing threat. And though relatively few slaves actually joined the British army as a result of this proclamation, it inspired 100,000 slaves to risk everything in an effort to be free.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Perhaps the word \u201cdupe\u201d has taken on a different meaning over time, but Abigail’s accusation that the colony allowed themselves to be deceived or tricked\u2014and shamefully so\u2014seems exaggerated to me. I do not see how the patriots could have prevented this strategic act by Dunmore; however, I do not know the full story.<\/p>\n

Next, in a polite yet outspoken paragraph, Abigail calls out the hypocrisy of the slave-owning leaders of the revolution, her husband’s compatriots. When she notes that perhaps \u201cthe passion for Liberty cannot be Eaquelly [sic.] Strong in the Breasts of those who have been accustomed to deprive their fellow Creatures of theirs,\u201d she almost certainly is criticizing those fourteen of the twenty-one most prominent founding fathers who depended on slave labor for their financial success, yet publicly espoused the virtue of liberty as the central cause for revolution.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

More noteworthy is Abigail’s remark that \u201cI am certain that [the passion for Liberty] is not founded upon that generous and christian principal [sic.] of doing to others as we would that others should do unto us.\u201d As a modern reader, it seems only reasonable that Abigail note the hypocrisy at play here; it seems ironic that men struggling to cast off the yoke of tyranny hold other humans in captivity, and it is satisfying to see someone call this into question.<\/p>\n

However, this questioning becomes quite extraordinary when put into context. That Abigail felt safe to question the motivations of her husband’s co-founders is evidence for the equality and freedom of speech she shared with John in their relationship. It also shows her independence as a thinker\u2014in a time when men were expected to be the intellectuals and women to be the manual laborers of the home, Abigail displays little regard for prescribed gender roles and speaks her beliefs with backbone.<\/p>\n

What follows is a sudden reminder that despite the casual, businesslike mood of Abigail’s letter, she and her children are in the midst of a military war and are actually living in the warzone. While reading the document, Abigail’s now-antiquated, well-educated prose and gently urging tone conjures up a romanticized version of events that ignores the gritty reality of the Revolutionary War. Abigail’s descriptions of the \u201cabominable ravages\u201d of marauding parties and implications that her family has evacuated its house are a startling reality check; the reader is reminded that her life has become dangerous and difficult.<\/p>\n

If Abigail’s earlier admonition of the slaveholding founding fathers seemed radical, her proceeding writing is possibly even more revolutionary. Perhaps John had already told Abigail that a Code of Laws would be necessary to establish, should the colonists declare independence, and they had previously discussed the matter. Even so, the casual, offhand diction Abigail uses to introduce the subject of the soon-to-be Constitution seems odd, and even humorous. \u201cBy the way,\u201d Abigail writes, \u201cin the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies.\u201d This flippant use of language, when preceding a request as momentous as this, may be a calculated decision. When responding to her request, John cannot point to Abigail’s admission that to \u201cRemember the Ladies\u201d is asking much of him, and therefore proclaim it inappropriate or impossible.<\/p>\n

Abigail finally takes a straightforward and pointed tone when she entreats her husband to \u201cput it out of the power of the vicious and the Lawless to use [women] with cruelty and indignity with impunity.\u201d She even uses the words of the revolutionaries against him, showing echoes of the unborn Declaration of Independence when she says, \u201cDo not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands,\u201d and furthermore that women \u201cwill not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.\u201d This clever redirection of words is particularly effective because this comes after earlier criticism of hypocrisy. She reminds her husband that while he is struggling to end an unjust relationship with Great Britain, women throughout the colonies are straining under a similarly unequal relationship with men imposed by a patriarchal society.<\/p>\n

Despite her drive for lobbying and political advising, Abigail’s primary role is that of the wife and leader of the Adams household. She finished the letter with news of family, friends, and neighbors, serving as her husband’s eyes and ears when he cannot be in town. Yet the way she signs the letter, \u201cYour ever faithful Friend,\u201d once again hints at the unusual equality of their relationship that allowed her to criticize revolutionaries for hypocrisy and to passionately advocate for women’s rights.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> \u201cProclamation of Earl of Dunmore.\u201d PBS<\/em>. WGBH Educational Foundation, 1998. Web. 17 Feb. 2015. .<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> \u201cThe Founding Fathers and Slavery\u201d. Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica. Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica Online.<\/em> Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2015
\n.<\/p>\n

<\/a>  <\/a>  <\/a>  <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By admin Carolyn Raihala HIS 245 Primary Source Analysis Abigail Adams: Lobbyist and Political Advisor Abigail and John Adams carried out an extensive written correspondence from their pre-marriage days of courtship in 1762 up through John’s presidency from 1796 to 1801. In their letters, they write not only of their mutual affection and the day-to-day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-public","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.shroutdocs.org\/his245\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.shroutdocs.org\/his245\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.shroutdocs.org\/his245\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.shroutdocs.org\/his245\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.shroutdocs.org\/his245\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.shroutdocs.org\/his245\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1295\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.shroutdocs.org\/his245\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.shroutdocs.org\/his245\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.shroutdocs.org\/his245\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}